Material forms, visual consciousness, visual contact, the feelings unpleasant or pleasant or neither-unpleasant-nor-pleasant that arise conditioned b… - Sheng-yen

The supreme realization of the original nature of mind neither affirms nor negates any conceptual point of view; hence it does not need language for expression. One can exhaust the resources of language and still would not express ultimate Chan. This is because Chan transcends knowledge, symbols—the entire apparatus of language. You may call Chan “emptiness,” but it is not emptiness in the nihilistic sense, of “there is nothing there.” You may call it “existence,” but it is not existence in the common sense, of “I see it, so it must be there.” It is existence which transcends the fiction of our sensory world of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and form. Yet, Chan is never apart from them, and is one with our everyday world. It is innate to all beings, everywhere, at all times.

[Chan masters] were not only highly accomplished practitioners, they were also well versed in literature, history, and Buddhist scholarship.

Chinese Buddhism is indeed in a state of crisis, facing great challenges. The fact that many Chinese Buddhists subscribe to a bleak view of the future of Chinese Buddhism is something lamentable. Many of them feel that they are better off practicing Tibetan or Theravāda Buddhism. Some are even ordained into the Tibetan or Theravāda traditions. There would not be any future for Chinese Buddhism if all Chinese Buddhists held such attitudes. In the past I have said that the different forms of Buddhism are the same, whether it is Theravāda or Tibetan Buddhism. As long as either one of them exists, even if Chinese Buddhism is extinguished, Buddhism will still remain in the world. However, I said those words with great pain.